Michael Pena to play labor organizer Cesar E. Chavez in biopic opposite America Ferrera and Rosario Dawson

Actor Michael Pena will see his dream role become a reality, as the Crash star is set to play 1960s and ’70s labor organizer Cesar E. Chavez in the indie biopic Chavez, which Diego Luna will direct, Variety reports. Ugly Betty’s America Ferrera will co-star as his wife, Helen Chavez, while Rosario Dawson (Sin City) ….

Spike Lee, Natalie Portman, Gael Garcia Bernal, Eric Bana and more to host free filmmaker series at Apple Store

The Apple store in Soho New York will be celebrating the spirit of independent film and the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival, by hosting a series of free filmmaking events from April 22 to May 3, 2009. Grab a seat in the store’s theater for the Meet the Filmmakers series, presented by Apple Computer and indieWIRE. ….

Gus Van Sant’s Milk trailer

Below is the trailer for the new Gus Van Sant film, Milk, which looks like a moving biography of the life of California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn), who was assassinated, along with Mayor George Moscone, by San Francisco Supervisor Dan White (played by Josh Brolin). Milk will be ….